1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to electrical terminals employed in connector assemblies, and in particular to electrical terminals which are loaded in the rearward end of a housing, and have locking lance retention means to prevent removal of the terminals once installed in the housing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present invention is an improvement over electrical terminals having struck out locking lances which engage the housing in which the terminal is mounted. An example of this arrangement is given in U.S. Pat. No. 3,706,954 assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The terminal therein has a canted locking lance which is struck out at a given angle to extend in a rearward direction. The terminal is slidingly mounted in a cavity of a dielectric housing, through a rearward end of the housing. A top wall of the housing has a window formed therein communicating with the terminal receiving cavity. When the terminal is fully inserted in the cavity, the locking lance engages a window edge which is received between the lance and the terminal body, to prevent withdrawal of the terminal from the housing cavity. The lance, which is struck out from the terminal body is sufficiently resilient to be collapsibly deflected by the housing wall during initial stages of terminal insertion, and thereafter to resume its outward deflection upon entering the housing window. An interior corner or edge of the housing adjacent the window is trapped between the terminal body and the free end of the lance.
With increasing miniaturization of electrical components, electrical terminals have not only been reduced in size, but also the thickness or gauge of the metal stock from which they are formed is also being reduced. As a result, under certain circumstances, the locking lance construction has resulted in certain undesireable effects. For example, increasing miniaturization has required a reduction in the housing wall thickness in which the lance-receiving window is formed. During attempted withdrawal of the terminal from the connector housing, the locking lance has been observed to project beyond the top surface of the housing wall. Thus, when completed conductor assemblies are placed back to back, with adjacent aligned window portions, the risk of shorting the circuits of one connector to those of the adjacent connector is present.
With the corresponding reduced wall thickness in the connector housing, damage to the window edge during loading of the terminal and spring back of the lance, a rounding deformation of the edge has been observed. Thus, the free end of the lance can more easily cam across the deformed edge allowing easier withdrawal of the terminal from the housing cavity.